The Fullness of Time

What can wash away my sin Nothing but the blood of Jesus What can make me whole again Nothing but the blood of Jesus Before I knew Christ, I was lost, confused. Struggled a lot with mental health and family drama that was happening in my life. To sum it up was very painful. How precious is the flow that makes me white as snow No other fount I know Nothing but the blood of Jesus You got to the point where I surrendered, fully surrendered to Christ. And I went up front, I got on my knees and I said, God you have every single ounce of me. You have my relationships, my finances, my business, everything. And at that moment God just said, now I can use you for my kingdom. Where now I'm operating in humility, in obedience. That I'm seeking God intimately, asking God to be my shepherd, asking God to lead me. God has given me the confidence to do so many things that I wouldn't have been able to do just a couple years ago. Today I have a bright future ahead of me because I have Jesus. Things aren't perfect, I still struggle with things from time to time but I don't feel alone. Seeing how it's changed my life, I want that for them too. I want them to know that they're loved and that no matter what's happened in their past, that it's okay, that they're forgiven. Come on church, be grateful for what God has done in your life. Stand to your feet. We're here to give Him praise. Thank you Lord for your faithfulness. Thank you for your love. Thank you for the price you paid on the cross. You're worthy of all praise and honor. Thank you Jesus. Thank you, thank you Jesus. It's never been about performance, perfection or striving for acceptance. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood.

It's never been about deserving or earning. It's a gift that's freely given. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Does anybody want to be holy and righteous, pure and fine and spotless? Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Does anybody want to be worthy, forgiven, justified in the living? Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Hallelujah, hallelujah. I know it was the blood. You're the only thing, the blood. Hallelujah, hallelujah. I know it was the blood. You're the only thing, the blood. Thank you Lord, it's by your blood. We can live free by your blood. Thank you Lord. Thank you Jesus. Come on, put your hands up church. Jesus washed us clean in his blood. So we can shake freely this morning, come on. Here we go. Jesus washed us clean. ♪ On me, and shame was running deep ♪ ♪ But love was built on Calvary ♪ ♪ Oh hallelujah, I'm clean ♪ ♪ God, how can it be, ransomed and redeemed ♪ ♪ I'm standing in your victory, oh hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ I'm as good as new, oh hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪

♪ All because of you, oh hallelujah, I'm clean ♪ ♪ It's not what I have done, what you've done for me ♪ ♪ You've painted all upon that tree, oh hallelujah, I'm clean ♪ ♪ I'm clean, your love has overcome, your mercy is supreme ♪ ♪ I'm dancing in your victory, oh hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ I'm as good as new, oh hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ All because of you, oh hallelujah, I'm clean ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ I'm as good as new, oh hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ All because of you, oh hallelujah, I'm clean ♪ Come on, sing it out with me. ♪ Cause you took away my shame, you nailed it to the cross ♪ ♪ You got me running out the grave, hallelujah, here I come ♪ Come on. ♪ Cause you took away my shame, and you nailed it to the cross ♪ ♪ You got me running out the grave, hallelujah, here I come ♪ Oh, you took it away. ♪ Cause you took away my shame, and you nailed it to the cross ♪ ♪ You got me running out the grave, hallelujah, here I come ♪ ♪ Cause you took away my shame, and you nailed it to the cross ♪ ♪ You got me running out the grave, hallelujah, here I come ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, here I come, hallelujah, here I come ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, here I come, there is freedom in your name ♪ If you've been free, everybody clap your hands. ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, here I come ♪ Come on, sing it out. ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, here I come, hallelujah, here I come ♪

♪ Cause I know that I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ I'm as good as new, oh hallelujah, I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood ♪ ♪ All because of you, oh hallelujah ♪ Come on, make some noise. Thank you, Lord. Well, hey, welcome to the local church. It is a perfect place for imperfect people to experience the presence of God. So grateful he meets us here, grateful you are here. And before you are seated, if there is any space in between you and the person next to you, if you can all just take a little scooch in. I know we're going to hear a little scooch, and then you may be seated. Now, perfect, wonderful. And hey, welcome. My name is Carson Pedraza. It is my privilege and honor to welcome you guys here. This beautiful Easter. Happy Easter, everyone. I'm especially excited that you're here. If you're a guest in our house, we're so grateful you're spending your Easter Sunday with us. In fact, we have a free gift just for you. It's our little way of saying thank you for joining us. If you haven't already done so, do us a favor. Fill out that Connect card in the seat back in front of you. We want to put a free gift in your hands so much more than that. We want to get to know your name and your story. Make sure you get a proper welcome here today. And listen, there's so much that I want to tell you about, about this church, about how good God is, how loved you are. But I have a very specific job today to tell you three specific things. The first is about our incredible Next Gen Ministries,

that we are a church for the whole family. In fact, right now, right across the breezeway, your preschoolers and elementary schoolers are figuring out what it looks like to find and follow Jesus together in a clean, safe, and fun environment. And that happens every time that we gather for our worship services, our children's ministries. happening and it's an incredible a fun place for them to be and then every Tuesday night this room transforms into the best place to be on a Tuesday night for a teenager in South Florida with our local youth student ministry I mean we truly believe the future belongs to the youth and so that ministry does an incredible job connecting students to Jesus and to one another they have incredible community they have a blast and so if you have children or if you have teenagers I'd encourage you to get them connected to those incredible ministries the second thing is not just for the guests in the room it's for everybody on in two weeks we're having Familia night Familia night is a free community event where we have food trucks and activities bounce houses Davey PD will be out with their horses local kids will be sponsoring a movie night right here in this room it's a great opportunity to come together as a whole church and get to know people maybe you're at the 11 o'clock service maybe a friend who comes to the Thursday night service you guys can meet up and spend time together it's also a great opportunity to invite friends who would maybe say I would never show up to church that place will catch fire if I walk in the building well it's a great opportunity for them to show up and get to know some Church Familia and really be encouraged by the community here so in two weeks it's a Friday night it's free it's a blast we hope you will join us and the third thing that I want you to know about the local church is that we are church that believes God has called us to be a generous church and that generosity doesn't just come because it looks good that generously comes because it's following the example set by Jesus in fact in second

Corinthians it says for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor so that you through his poverty might become rich and about you guys I love a generous person I love spending time with a generous person right we go out to dinner and you pick up the tab it's my people all right it's a good day for me but and there's something just kind of contagious about generosity there's something so freeing and encouraging about it and there's nobody who's ever proven more generous than that than Jesus he this scripture literally tells us that he left the riches of heaven he left angels army to come down to earth he went from being in hanging out with angels to hanging out in a carpentry shop he went from royalty to hanging on a cross and he did that for you and he did it for me and that that picture of grace and generosity it's such a beautiful image of just who Jesus is and just what he has called us to do and I just believe you know that we have an opportunity to echo to walk in his footsteps of his generosity to learn from his example and listen if you're a guest here today this is a no pressure situation you're sitting next to the most generous people in South Florida but if you call this place home if you are a Christ follower we have an invitation to respond to God's goodness through generosity and so if giving as part of your worship today there are several ways you could do so there are the screens behind me there's some offering boxes on your way out a giving kiosk in the lobby we can always give safely and securely online but right now we're gonna pass some buckets and so if you're on the left-hand side of your row if you could reach down and pass that to the right it would be greatly appreciated and as those are being passed I'm gonna remind us when we give to the church we're giving through the church your generosity is how people are meeting Jesus it's how people are getting that the community's needs are being met it's how people are finding hope and healing through counseling it's how marriages are being restored all those great things that the church does is because God's goodness meets your generosity what a gift that is can we pray over this giving right now God we're so grateful that you have led the

example the perfect example of what generosity looks like that you've taught us that you've shown us that you've lived it out and so out of response to who you are in our lives we respond to you by saying thank you thank you for the gifts you've given us thank you for the gift of Jesus thank you that we get to sit in your presence and praise your name you are so worthy we love and praise you it's a great we pray amen and amen church you can rise to your feet this morning is not a performance it's not about us it's about Jesus it's about giving him praise because he is the king of King the Lord of Lords he is risen he's in this room this morning so I to raise your voice and sing these songs Oh and yonder know ♪ Worthy is the Lamb who was slain and seated on the throne. There's no one like the Lord. ♪ And the elders preachers bow, giving praise to Him in Him alone. There's no one like the Lord. ♪ ♪ There is one on the throne, Jesus, holy is. He is worthy of praise and honor and glory. ♪ Worthy is the Lamb who was slain and seated on the throne. There's no one like the Lord. ♪ And the elders preachers bow, giving praise to Him in Him alone. There's no one like the Lord. ♪ Worthy is the Lamb who was slain and seated on the throne. There's no one like the Lord. ♪ And the elders preachers bow, giving praise to Him in Him alone. There's no one like the Lord. ♪ We crown You King of Glory. We crown You King of Glory. We crown You King of Glory. In the book of Revelation, John gets this vision of the resurrected Jesus. And he sees this picture of these 24 elders clothed in white for the righteousness that Jesus placed on them. They all have these crowns because the Bible said that they endured and fought the good fight. But he sees this vision of them taking off their crowns and laying them at the foot of Jesus because He's the reason why they become worthy, because He is worthy. We see these elders, preachers, these angels who are constantly singing, worthy is the Lamb who was slain, who sits upon the throne. Jesus constantly surrounded by praise because He's worthy.

But I'm telling you, church, we don't need a revelation when we have the resurrection of Jesus. We know He's worthy because He set us free. Because He died and rose again and now we are free forever. So let's not let the angels outpraise us. For His children, His sons and daughters, let's crown Him King of Glory and declare that He is worthy today. Let's do it, church. Giving praise to Him and His Lord. There's no one like the Lord. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain and seated on the throne. There's no one like the Lord. And the elders, preachers now. Giving praise to Him and His Lord. There's no one like the Lord. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain and seated on the throne. There's no one like the Lord. And the elders, preachers now. Giving praise to Him and Him alone. There's no one like the Lord. Lamb of God, anointed One, who was and is and is to come. Seated on the throne of love, holy, holy. Righteous One who sheds blood to prove to us the power. ♪ Father's love, Jesus Christ be lifted up ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, Lamb of God anointed one ♪ ♪ Who was and is and is to come ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne above ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, righteous one who shed His blood ♪ ♪ To prove to us the Father's love, Jesus Christ be lifted up ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one, only You Jesus ♪ ♪ Only You Jesus, who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪

♪ There is no one, only You Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no one, only You Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no one, only You Jesus ♪ Sing it out. Say, who else is worthy. Who else is worthy. There is no one. There is no one, only You Jesus, who else is worthy. Who else is worthy. There is no one, only You Jesus. You are worthy. I exalt You. I exalt You. I exalt You. Oh Lord. I exalt You. I exalt You. I exalt You. Oh. Let's sing it in Spanish then. I exalt You. I exalt You. I exalt You. I exalt You. I exalt You. Oh Lord. I exalt You. I exalt You. I exalt You. I exalt You.

Oh Lord. Every voice praise. Sing I exalt Thee. And I exalt Thee. And I exalt Thee. I exalt Thee. Oh Lord. Just raise your voice and declare and say. I exalt Thee. I exalt Thee. I exalt Thee. Oh Lord. Thank you Jesus. Say I exalt You. I exalt You. I exalt You. ♪ Who by His love made me whole ♪ Jesus, thank you. Thank you, Father, that we can stand today in freedom without any dividing wall between you and us, that you have set aside this time to be with us. And on this day that we celebrate your resurrection, Father, there are so many songs that we can sing to you, declare the blood that you spilled for us that washed away all our sins, of the cross that you bore where you died so that we could be free, of the tomb that is empty because you are alive. But Jesus, more than anything, we wanna lift up songs that you are worthy,

that there's no one like you. You promised us in your word that when we lift you up, that you will draw all people to your presence, Father. And so that's our prayer today, that you would be lifted up in the hearts of people who are far from you, that you would lift up hope in the minds, the hearts of those who are hurting. Jesus, as we your children so freely offered you all of our praise for all of you, who you are, God, I pray that you would meet us in this place and do the miraculous and the impossible. We trust you, God, have your will and your way. Whatever it is you want, we know that your will will be done on earth. As it is in heaven, we thank you and pray. And to all of those who are grateful that Jesus is alive, we all said, amen. Amen. Come on, church. He's worthy, amen. Our music may be over for now, but our praise continues. Turn to a few people as you have a seat and tell them, he's risen, he's alive. Welcome to the perfect place for imperfect people to experience the presence of God. I'm Eric Gamero, and I'm grateful that all of you are here, here and in overflow right now, and all the people that are online. If you've been walking with Jesus for years, or maybe this is the first time in a long time

you stepped into a church, or maybe the first time ever, I'm so grateful you're here. I truly believe that you're not here on accident. I believe God brought you here on purpose, and you're gonna experience today in our time together more than you anticipated when you woke up this morning. I truly believe that God wants to do something great in all of our lives today. Let me ask this as we begin. Have you ever had a situation happen in your life where the timing was completely off? Like everything felt good about it, except when it took place. I have a group chat with a bunch of pastors in the area, and I like dropping memes in that chat. If I see something funny, I don't think too much about it. They know we're all human. I'll send it expecting laughs. I saw a meme not too long ago, that meme of that guy who's pointing to his head and smiling, and the meme simply said, you don't have to worry when you just don't care. And I sent it, you know, because as pastors, we care for people. We carry people's burdens, and sometimes it's too much. And so I sent it expecting laughing emojis back, nothing. Crickets, silence. Shortly after, one of my pastors, he personally messages me and says, bro, that's not why I'm stressed.

I'm like, oh, what did I miss? I go back in the group chat. I see earlier that day, he had mentioned to all of us how he's thinking of giving up. He says, it's too hard, it's too difficult. What a difficult season of ministry we're in. And I just sent him a text that basically said to him, don't care. Just stop caring, who cares? So I just scrambled, I'm like, no, I didn't mean that. I didn't read what you had sent. You should care, and we care about you. I thought it was funny, but it was the wrong timing, and therefore a completely different outcome. And this is how life is sometimes. You can have the right opportunity, presented self, and it could be the wrong time for it. You can have the right conversation at the wrong time, and then you end up looking. wrong. Right, husbands? I'm right about this. My wife's not ready for it. I share it. Now I'm apologizing. You can even pray the right prayers to God and feel like why isn't the timing taking place right now? And this is part of the reason why the resurrection of Jesus matters so much. Because Easter is not just about what God did. Easter is also about when He did it. And today my prayer is that we will all see that God's timing is perfect, even when it doesn't feel like it. So I want you to turn your Bibles, follow along on the screen, here and at home. Galatians chapter 4 verses 4 and 5, it says, So when the fullness of time, say that with me, when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. I've titled tonight, today's Easter teaching, The

Fullness of Time. And that phrase, the fullness of time, is everything. Not early, not late. Right on time. Now before we continue, when God starts something in our life, it doesn't stop in a moment of time. It continues on again and again and again. Next Sunday we're starting a new teaching series titled, The God of Again. And I hope you come back. Because the resurrection isn't the end of our relationship. The resurrection is the beginning of God doing a new work of bringing resurrection, day after day, again after again. And so if you've ever felt stuck in life, if you've ever felt like you've broken something way beyond repair, if you if you've ever taken steps of progress and then find yourself regressing, next week and the next several weeks are gonna be very helpful for us. Because again, God is not a God of simply a moment. He's the God of again. He lifts us up again. He restores us again. He redeems us again. Next week we'll talk about what God wants to restore. Today I want us to pay attention to what God wants to redeem. So I have three big ideas today. If you're taking notes, if you want today to be sticky and you remember it and you live it out, write this down. God's perfect timing isn't just about when it happens, it's about what he's preparing in you before it happens. God's perfect timing isn't just about when it happens, it's about what he's preparing in you before it happens. John chapter 19 starting in verse 14 is the story of the resurrection. Jesus is standing before Pontius Pilate. The crowds are shouting, crucify him! The same people that a week prior were praising him as he entered into Jerusalem, they're now handing him over like a criminal. And if you were one of Jesus' followers in that time, you wouldn't think that this was the perfect time. You wouldn't think this is the fullness of time. You would think this is a tragedy. You would ask God, what is happening? Why is this happening right now? We continue to read. It tells us that Jesus is beaten. He's mocked. They place him on a cross and put nails in his hands and feet. Place upon him a crown of thorns that pierces his skull. They spit upon him. They pierce his side with a spear. Then in John chapter 19 verse 30, Jesus said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and he gave up his spirit. In that moment, Jesus died. From a human perspective, it seems like

everything is over. Jesus' followers thought that he was the one sent from God, and now they think that everything is done and gone. But that's not what Jesus said, is it? Jesus didn't say, I am finished. What did Jesus say? It is finished. Big difference. It is finished. Jesus on the cross wasn't losing. Jesus dying on the cross was completing God's plan. The cross wasn't a mistake. It was God executing a plan he set in motion far before this moment happens. Disciples, they later on realize this. In Acts chapter 2 verse 23, Peter now filled with the spirit of God, preaching on the day of Pentecost to so many people. The good news of Jesus says this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. They understood this wasn't accidental like we thought. This was intentional in every way. God's perfect plan was unfolding at the perfect time. So when we say God's timing is perfect, here's what we mean. That God is bringing people around you that you haven't met. God is aligning opportunities that have not been opened to you yet. God is positioning appointments that have not been available to you yet. At the same time, He's working in you and through you. He's growing your character. He's strengthening your faith. And He's preparing you for what you've asked Him for. This is God's perfect timing. And I know for a lot of us it feels like delay while we're waiting. But it's God coordinating details that we couldn't on our own. I know when we cry out to God and we don't hear Him immediately, we think that it's silence. But what it actually is, is God setting up things in place so that when it happens, it doesn't just feel right. When it happens, we are ready to receive it. We're ready to actually walk in it. If God moved too early, we wouldn't be ready. If God moved too late, we'd say, we did it on our own. So God always does it in His perfect time. Where His purpose is fulfilled, like we see.

And we're prepared to walk in it. I want you to turn to someone and tell them, it's a fullness of time, baby. That's what we're talking about today. Ecclesiastes 3.11. The Bible says that God makes everything beautiful when? In its time. Not immediately. Not when we feel like we're ready or it feels right in its time. And what does that mean for us? That means if what you're experiencing right now doesn't look beautiful, God's not done. If what you're experiencing and see around you isn't beautiful, God is not done doing what He's prepared to do. And I just want to safely assume if you're here on an Easter service, you probably don't have a whole lot of issues of what God can do. I think the challenge for most of us is when God does it. Like too many of us, we don't question God's power. We question His process and His time. We say, God, I believe You can do it. I've seen You do it. I'm just wondering why haven't You done it yet? Right? This is what a lot of us don't understand. I've been married to my wife for 18 years, in our 18 years of marriage. There are still some things I don't understand about my wife. Take for instance, baking. I love food. I'm a foodie. I like eating food. I like making food. I actually think I'm a pretty good chef. I was actually, my senior year of high school, I was the number one junior chef in all of Dade, Broward and Monroe County. I knew when I graduated high school, I wanted to be a pastor.

And I'm competing against people who are trying to pursue a culinary career as chefs. And I beat every single one of them. How? Simple. I followed the instructions. I promise you, I'm not making that up. I just followed the recipe as it was given and I beat every single one of them. Baking is a science. Baking requires you to measure the ingredients and to set the right time so that the product you put in is perfect at the given time. Baking takes precision. Unless you're my wife, Jessica. She bakes by her heart. That's what she says, babe, I bake according to my heart. I'm like, you know what the Bible says about the heart? You can't trust the heart. It's deceitful. It's wicked. What do you mean you bake by your heart? I bake by instruction. So one day she's baking brownies. She puts the ingredients in. She's not checking a recipe. She's tasting it. Not yet. Puts a little bit more. It's done. She puts it in the oven. Because I've read the recipe. I know in an 8x8 tray at 415 degrees, it's going to take 18 to 20 minutes

for those bad boys to be ready. She puts them in. She goes to the room to relax. 17 minutes rolls along. I say, babe, they're almost done. No, they're not. What do you mean? They don't smell ready. Who cares how they smell? There's a timer. 18 minutes comes. Nothing. 19 minutes, nothing. 20, she's still in the room relaxing. So I decide I'm going to save these brownies from burning to a crisp. I open up the oven. I take them out. I put the tray on the oven top. And five seconds later, they deflate. I take a butter knife. I cut through it. It's not brownie. It's soup. So I start thinking to myself, what did this woman do to mess up these brownies? She comes out and says, I told you they weren't ready yet. And after some arguing, I realized a very important lesson that day. I realized that my wife didn't ruin a recipe. I realized that I rushed the process. And that's what we do with God, don't we? We rush His process.

We are not trusting of his perfect timing, so we try to force our own upon and say, God it looks ready, feels ready right now, God. I am ready. Do you smell that? It smells ready and God so often says, no, it's not. If I give it to you now, it won't be steady, it won't hold. If I give it to you now when it's not ready, it won't be what I intended it to be for you, in you and through you. His timing is perfect and I get it. It's easier for me to say that than for us to live that out. But when we are waiting on God's perfect time, know that you are not being overlooked. You are being prepared by God to receive it. When you cry out to God and you don't hear him immediately, you are not being denied. You are not being ignored. You are being developed by him and everything he does is intentional to the team. God's perfect timing isn't just about when it happens, it's about what he's preparing in us. Before it happens. He's getting us ready. Turn to your neighbor and tell him, he's preparing me. Okay, look back and say, he's preparing you. Why do you believe it more for them than you. We'll get to that. Second big idea, write this down. Jesus didn't come when we expected, he came when we needed him most.

It's important we understand that Jesus didn't come when we expected. We expect things in our time. He came at the perfect time. He came when we needed him most. You continue to read of the story of the resurrection in John 19. Jesus hanging on a cross and in the middle of his suffering, he looks down and sees his mother. And what does he do? Like every good son, he cares for his mom. John 19.26... He says, woman, your son. And then he said, disciple, behold, your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. As Jesus is literally dying on a cross, he makes sure that his mother's needs are cared for for the rest of her life. He's intentional. Then verse 28, Jesus, he says these two specific words. He says, I thirst. The reason he said those words, the Bible says, because he was fulfilling a prophecy about who he was. I thirst. And several moments later he breathes his last and dies. Again to the onlooking crowds, this is chaotic. Everything is out of control. But in Jesus' final moments, he's aware of what's happening and who's there. He's intentional in all that he does. And he's fulfilling exactly what God sent him to do.

It was at the fullness of time that God sent Jesus. Romans 5.6 says, while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. At the right time. Not when we were strong. Not when we figured it all out and put ourselves together. At the right time he sent Jesus for the ungodly. His timing is perfect. Too often we try to put God in our timing. We present to him, Lord, this is the biggest problem I'm dealing with in this time. But God sees deeper than we do. Same thing in this situation. The people, they wanted a king who would overthrow Rome. And God knew what we needed. He sent a Savior who would overcome sin. They wanted help from everything that was happening on the exterior. But God sent Jesus to transform us from the inside out. To give us external and eternal freedom forever. His timing is perfect. God didn't just send a message of good news of how to live a good life. He sent his son who brought resurrection life when we really needed it most. He sent a Savior. I know this room is filled with all sorts of people outside. I'm grateful that you are here. I don't know why you came. I don't know what your priority was. But if we are honest, I think a lot of us might admit that we are not really looking for a Savior. We don't think we need a Savior.

We think we need a solution to our problems. We don't want to repent of our sin. We just want relief from the pain that we are experiencing. We want God to fix our situation without having to surrender all of who we are to him and follow him. And like the people in that culture, we want change happening around us. God change our country, change our economy. Change our local community. And we fail to realize that there is something within us that needs to be changed first. There is something inside of us that is inherently broken that we have to deal with. It's like going to a surgeon and saying, hey, don't cut me up, put a Band-Aid on it. Little Neal Sporan, bring my abuela in, I will be good, okay. You don't need to operate. No, there is something inside of us that needs to be healed first. And that's why Jesus came when he did. Because the problem wasn't happening around us. The major problem is what is happening within us. Write this down. The resurrection wasn't just Jesus getting up. We celebrate Jesus getting up. The resurrection wasn't just Jesus getting up. It was God making a way for you and me to get up. You continue to read this Easter story, John 20, verse 1-29, it says... And saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. If you keep reading in verse 14, she sees Jesus but she doesn't

recognize who he is. Because she thinks he's dead. This can't be him, it must be an angel. And then Jesus speaks her name two verses later. He calls her, he says, Mary. And that was a moment that everything changed for her. The one that she thought was dead and gone is now standing directly in front of her. Verse 19 you read that Jesus goes back to his disciples who were doubting at the time. He shows his new glorified resurrected body. He still has the scars. But he's healed. He's whole. And that moment changed everything for them going forward. The one that they saw crucified and bleeding out is now standing in front of them alive and whole. Three days prior, the cross meant defeat for them. We've lost. They mourned. But on Easter Sunday, that resurrection Sunday morning, they realize that the cross was God's plan to begin with. Galatians 4, 4 and 5 again. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son born of woman, meaning he came in the flesh as one of us. Born under the law, meaning he was subject to the same laws and commandments of all of creation. Verse 5, to do what? To redeem.

Redeem those who are under the law so that we might receive adoption. That word redeem, it means to buy back. It means to rescue. It means to restore to its original state. And that word adoption doesn't simply mean you are forgiven, it means that you are chosen. You are loved. And you are brought in to a family. My youngest son Everett, this past summer he found out for the first time that one of his best friends was adopted. And he was heartbroken. He had watched too many movies of Little Orphan Annie and all of that. And he was so heartbroken that his friend was adopted. And we said, buddy, you don't get it. He was chosen. They loved him. They chose him. And they brought him into their own family as their own. He's loved, bud. This is why Jesus came for us. To love us. To choose us. To bring us into his family. The resurrection isn't just a celebration that Jesus got up. It's God's way of giving us an opportunity to get up as well. I love seeing large crowds of people. But here's what I know. I won't see a lot of you until Christmas.

We have a phrase for you in the church, it's called CEOs. You are Christmas and Easter only. And for a long time with large crowds, it's like how do we get them to come back next week. How do we get them to laugh. How do we get them to want to come back to this place. And then one day several years ago we decided we don't know if tomorrow is promised. I don't want to wait until next week. So they don't need a good Easter sermon. They don't need a feel-good encouragement and walk out smiling. I hope you do that. But what you really need and what we really need is to be saved. You need a Savior to be saved from what? Romans 3.23 says, for all have sinned. All have fallen short of God's glorious standards. We're all sinners, every single one of us, we sin. Turn to your neighbor, tell him, you're a sinner. Say, so am I. How can you say that? I thought we're saints. God gave us a top 10 list on how we should live our lives that's good for us. And one of these 10 commandments is simply, don't lie. And every single person in this room has broken that command. Yes, I don't lie, I never lie, liar. We don't have to go through the other ones. So Bible says, if we're guilty of one,

we're guilty of them all. We've all broken God's commands. Now, you may not lie more than the person next to you. We know they're a much bigger liar, okay? We're not gonna point them out. But even still, none of us are perfect, right? That's the problem. To be in a relationship, to be in the presence of a perfect and holy God, we have to be perfect. And we're not. And we will never be on this side of eternity because of our sinful flesh. And because we've broken God's commands, because we haven't lived the way that God asked for us to live, there's now a price to pay. There's a penalty for our sin. Romans 6.23 says, for the wages of sin is death. That's the cost. That word wages means that there's a payment owed. Our sin earns us something, and it earns us death. And not just physical death, not like the death penalty. It's also a spiritual death. It's eternal separation from the perfect presence of God. That's what hell is. Hell is an eternity away from God. And it's not worth it. Sin is never worth it. I know sin feels good, amen. You can say amen to that, because it's true. If sin didn't feel good, we wouldn't do it.

But even though it feels good in the moment, it's never worth it, never. It's never worth being separated from the God that so loves us. You ever stay up late, scrolling, nothing on your phone? Show of hands, let me see. If you have a cell phone, you probably don't. You say five minutes, just five more minutes. And then before you realize it's two o'clock in the morning, you're scrolling through things you don't even care about. Little comedy bits, cooking reviews, TikTok voiceovers and reaction videos, conspiracy theories about our government. Like you're just trying to intake the entire breadth of the interwebs all at once. Your phone is hitting you in the head because you're dozing off, but you say, no, just a little bit longer. It's harmless. Then the next day, what happens? You're tired, you're weak. Your focus is off, you're frustrated. This is similar to sin. Sin continues to whisper to us, just a little bit more. It's okay, it's harmless. Sin, it promises us freedom. But then in the end, we have to pay for it. And the cost is far greater than we ever imagined. The cost is our life away from God. Happy Easter, everybody.

I know that's bad news, but the resurrection's about good news, amen. The wages of our sin is death, the verse continues. But Jesus is the free gift of God. Amen. Jesus is God's greatest gift given to us, and it's free. It costs Him everything, but it costs us nothing. It's a free gift, He's a free gift. He offers us the free gift of salvation. It's not a gift where you have to build it for six hours with specialized tools. Thanks for the gift of work. It's not the free gift that you get when you have to sit in a three-hour timeshare presentation. No, you've earned that. You earned that $100 gift card. That's not a free gift. It's not earned. not deserved its grace given to us. The reason why Jesus is God's greatest gift to humanity is because Jesus lived a perfect life. Jesus never sinned. He never broke God's commandments. And so when Jesus died on that cross, he didn't die for his own sin. He died for ours. He paid the price that we couldn't. He offered his life as the payment for the penalty of us disobeying God's ways for us. He died for us, but because he was the perfect son of God,

death could not hold him. He took the keys of hell. He resurrected from the grave. He took away all the power of sin and death, and he offers it to us. Today, that same Jesus offers us a new life, a new way of living, a resurrection for ourselves. Today, we can receive this free gift of life in Jesus. How? Can't be free? Come on, man, I've lived life. I know there's a catch. There is a catch. There is one. You have to decide for yourself. We don't accidentally stumble into salvation. Oh, praise God. No, it doesn't happen like that. We surrender ourselves. We make the active decision that today, I'm not walking in death anymore. Today, I'm choosing life. I'm following him. You have to decide for yourself. I know this place is filled with people. You've been in this for a long time. Maybe you've been coming to this church for a while. Maybe you grew up in, maybe you've even felt the love of God at some point in your life,

but you never actively made the conscious decision that I'm gonna be his follower. I choose freedom and not the old way of death in my life. If that's you, today's your moment. This is the perfect time. I want this last point to be personal for us because Jesus said it is finished because Jesus on that cross said, I did everything that was required. Religion says do, do, do. It's do, do. That's exactly what it is. Jesus says, it's done. I did it. It is finished because Jesus said it is finished. Today, say I. Today, I can be free. This is what the resurrection is all about. If Jesus can take something that is dead and seemingly gone for good and give it a new life, Jesus can do the same for us, amen. Maybe you've memorized John 3.16, perhaps the most popular passage of scripture. Don't miss the power of this promise from God because it's familiar to us. Simply says the good news in one single sentence, the summary of the resurrection in one verse, for God so loved the world, the quality of his love, the quantity of his love. He so loved us, you and me.

So loved the world that he sent his one and only son, Jesus. That whoever, I love that word. I love the King James Version. King Jimmy says, whosoever. Who does that mean? Whoever. Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. How do we receive this free gift of life? It's simple. Romans 10.9 says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is the son of God who's worthy, who created everything and holds your life in his hands, if you believe in your heart that he's not like Muhammad, that he's not like Buddha and every other philosopher, religious leader who's still six feet under, if you believe and confess that Jesus is Lord, that God raised him from the dead and his resurrection has power today, it says you will, not maybe, will be saved. Today's the perfect time. This is your moment. If you've never placed your trust in Jesus, if you've never trusted him for salvation, or you need to come back home because you've wandered off. We're not moving past this moment. This is why we're here. This is why we've prepared. This is why we've prayed for so many of you by name for so long.

Because today, today the Spirit of God wants you to come home. This is your moment. Right now. And not privately. Publicly. Don't be ashamed of the greatest decision that will change everything about your life. Jesus didn't die a private death. He hung upon the cross for all the world to see that He's the way, the truth, and the life. And the only way to the Father is through Him. So be public about it today. Matthew 10, 32. Jesus says, So everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge before My Father who is in heaven. On that day He'll say, Dad, you know them. They're with Me. And we will enter into eternity in the presence of God. And while we wait for that in His perfect time, we get to walk with Him. We get to have a relationship with Him. Not a religious experience where there's so much we have to do. We just get to be His sons and daughters. So, just a few moments. I want to give you guys the opportunity to respond to new life in Jesus. I want to ask you to stand to your feet right now. Hear me. Listen carefully. If today you want forgiveness of all your sin, past, present, and future. If today you want a real relationship with the God of all creation that so loves you. If today you want to trust Jesus to set you free and save you from sin and death. If that's you, without any hesitation, would you just throw your hands up right now. Keep your hand up. Proud. Church, let's celebrate. All across this room. Too many hands and I can't count. Now listen. Keep your hand up. You hear the church celebrating. What you don't hear is the angels celebrating right now. They're partying because of what you did. You're halfway there. Here's what I'm going to ask. I'm going to ask our prayer partners to come up right now.

And if you put up your hands, we want to pray with you. We want to pray for you. So, tell the person next to you, say, I got an appointment with Jesus. They'll move out of the way. If you raise your hand right now, I'm going to encourage you to come forward. Can you come forward right now? Don't be ashamed. We'll move. You can push them out of the way. They've been prepared for this moment. Come forward right now. The faith, the little faith that you think required for you to take a step forward is all the faith that you need to be a son or daughter forever. So here's what I want to do right now. With all our prayer partners here, I know there's a lot of people, maybe stretch out, maybe huddle up. We're all familiar right now. We want to pray. Now the words that I'm going to help you say, nothing magical about them. The fact that you've taken a step of faith means that you are forever changed. But we're going to pray this together so we know this decision. That on Easter Sunday 2026, we are new. Amen? Church Familia, would you pray this out loud together? So they know they're not in this alone. Say, Jesus, I'm a sinner. But you're my Savior. You died for my sin. You rose for my salvation. You made me a new creation. I receive that right now. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your spirit.

Thank you that you will walk with me from this day forward. And you have a home for me forever. Nothing can ever take that love away. I am yours, and you are mine. Amen. Come on, church. Can we celebrate the new life here today? Now, okay, sorry, sorry. Quiet down, quiet down. We're not done. Our prayer partners, they want to give you one of these books. In this book, so many answers to your question about salvation. And if you have more questions, come talk to us. But here's what we want to do right now. You just prayed to him. It may have been the first time that you prayed that you believe God heard you. But now we want to pray for you. So church, would you just stretch out your hands. And all the things you wish someone would have prayed for you when you first came to Jesus. Let's bless them right now. Let's thank God. Let's ask God to restore and to redeem and to continue to grow them. Let's pray for them right now. Father, thank you. Thank you for these. A place to trust in you today, God. Thank you. that there's resurrection life, that they will never be the same. Thank you, Lord, that you so love them more than they can imagine. God, I pray right now you would lift every burden. God, I pray that their anxiety would

melt away and I pray you'd fill them with peace that comes from your Spirit. Lord, let them overcome the sin that so easily ensnares us by the strength that you give, God. That it wouldn't be striving on our part, but it would continue to be grace and that we would grow day after day again and again, Lord, that we would believe that the best days are still before us because you're always with us. We bless them. We pray you'd use them greater than they could ever imagine today. In Jesus' name, we thank you and pray. And all the people that God said, amen and amen. Hey, we're gonna sing this one song as we conclude today and if you placed your trust in Jesus, this is now your story. So let's sing, thank God I'm free. Amen. I'm shaking off the heaviness. I'm dancing out of my regrets. I'm throwing caution to the wind. No, I am not ashamed to praise like this. Some would say it's foolishness, but I say it's worth the risk. I can't forget what Jesus did. No, I am not ashamed to praise like this. Where are those chains that once held me? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. My sin is gone, how can it be? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. And look at what the Lord has done. I'm never going back to the way I was. I'll sing, I'll dance, because I believe. I'm free, I'm free, thank God I'm free. Hey! Sing, I found a friend. I found a friend that never quits. No one loves as good as this. And I don't care what anyone says. I'll never be ashamed to praise like this. Where are those chains that once held me? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. My sin is gone, how can it be? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. And look at what the Lord has done. I'm never going back to the way I was. I'll sing, I'll dance, because I believe. I'm free, I'm free, thank God I'm free. You took the cross and you broke your body. You shed your blood, now the sinner can sing. My debt is paid and my record is clean. I couldn't do it, so you did it for me. You took the cross and you broke your body.

You shed your blood, now the sinner can sing. My debt is paid and my record is clean. I couldn't do it, so you did it for me. Come on, you gotta sing! Where are those chains that once held me? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. My sin is gone, how can it be? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. And look at what the Lord has done. I'm never going back to the way I was. I'll sing, I'll dance, because I believe. I'm free, I'm free, thank God I'm free. You took the cross and you broke your body. You shed your blood, now the sinner can sing. My debt is paid and my record is clean. I couldn't do it, so you did it for me. You took the cross and you broke your body. You shed your blood, now the sinner can sing. My debt is paid and my record is clean. I couldn't do it, so you did it for me. Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus! Holy God. ♪ I couldn't do it for you, David, at all ♪ ♪ And look at what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never goin' back to the way I was ♪ Come on. ♪ And look at what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never goin' back to the way I was ♪ ♪ Look at what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never goin' back to the way I was ♪ ♪ Look at what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never goin' back to the way I was ♪ Come on, make some noise, show us. We are free.